First published in August of 2016, British author David Owain Hughes’ novella ‘Wind-Up Toy: Chaos Rising’ formed the next sordid instalment into the author’s ‘Wind-Up Toy’ (2016) series.

DLS Synopsis:The control Chaos had over the men who she came into contact with was beyond exhilarating. They were her little playthings. She wasn’t interested in giving them any pleasure. They did all the providing, whether it was with tongue, fingers or by being a punch bag for her whips, chains and other toys of pain.

Chaos loved this life. It was fun. Men lived to provide her with pleasure. It was as plain and simple as that. And when she got bored, she got rid of them without a second’s thought. But she’d not done that with this one. This slave had been at her heel for a number of years now. Simone.

But now, after all those years, she was finally becoming bored of him. Bored of how happy and eager he always was. He said he loved her. Loved! How dare he? She’d break him. Make him want to run. Make him want to be gone from her forever.

She’d up the beatings. Make them more brutal than they’d ever been before. She’d make him wish he’d never been born. And she’d enjoy every sadistic minute of it. The power. The dominance.

Of course it hadn’t always been like this. She’d gradually blossomed into the iron-handed woman that she was now. Her father had undoubtedly been the catalyst to her persuasion towards pleasure and the delivery of pain. Back then, as a mere eleven-year-old, she’d had a different name. The name she’d been given by her parents. Charlotte Ros.

Her father had been her hero up until the moment she’d discovered his dirty little secret. But it wasn’t what he was getting up to that upset her the most. It was how much his actions had destroyed her mother. Driven her to suicide.

When Charlotte had uncovered her father’s secret, she’d initially used it against him. Held the knowledge over him. Her tooth was kept sweet for her silence, and so she allowed him to continue with his depravity. That was until Charlotte decided it was time to tell. Time to give up her beloved father’s dirty little secret.

The end result was catastrophic for the family. But it had put the wheels in motion for Charlotte Ros’ descent into sexual dominance. She was slowly finding out her inherent love for torturing and humiliating men. Her sadistic side was gradually clawing its way to the surface. She was becoming the powerful dominatrix that would one day make men whimper at just her touch.

Chaos was rising…

DLS Review:So, after ‘Wind-Up Toy: Broken Plaything’ (2016) where does author David Owain Hughes go next with his exploration into the dark and depraved world of ‘Wind-Up Toy’? From where both ‘Wind-Up Toy’ (2016) and ‘Wind-Up Toy: Broken Plaything’ (2016) left off, the future was looking a tad bleak for our favourite messed-up slave turned serial killer – Simone. However, instead of powering onwards with the story, for this next instalment Hughes casts the despicable saga backwards to look at the upbringing of dominatrix Chaos and the culmination of events that led to her becoming such a man-destroying bitch on heat.

The novella kicks off with Simone undergoing a brutal beating courtesy of one very pissed off Chaos. It’s a situation we’ve become somewhat accustomed to through the previous Wind-Up Toy offerings. However, the sadistic punishment and degradation dished out is no less hard-hitting, despite its reasonable regularity to date. Indeed, in these first few pages, poor old Simone is really put through hell at the hands of the utterly unforgiving Chaos – and the suffering he undergoes is just as wince-making and gut-churning as it was in the preceding instalments.

With the reader’s whistle now wet in terms of the tone Hughes is so unashamedly striving for, the story jumps back in time to when Chaos (aka Charlotte Ros) was a mere eleven-year-old girl, and the absolute apple of her father’s eye. Obviously back then the young and innocent Charlotte Ros is a million miles from the unforgiving dominatrix that she’ll one day become. However, even in these tender years we see something about the young girl that offers the slightest glimpse of the woman she’ll become.

Okay, so by now I don’t think it’s all that necessary to warn people about the extreme content that’s contained within the grubby pages of a David Owain Hughes offering. You know the score. If you’ve read ‘Wind-Up Toy’ (2016) or indeed any of the follow-on instalments, you know exactly how explicit and downright depraved this shit gets. And of course, ‘Chaos Rising’ is absolutely no exception.

We soon discover that Charlotte Ros’ father has been up to no good. In fact, he’s got one hell of a dirty secret lurking in the depths of his closet (figuratively speaking). And it doesn’t take long for poor old Charlotte Ros to discover his secret. In fact she literally walks in on the act. Yeah, you’ve guessed it, well-respected and powerful businessman Gregory Ros has been playing around behind his wife’s back. Only it’s with very young boys.

It’s a sensitive subject matter at the best of times. However, Hughes approaches it with exactly the same tone as the rest of his work instead of immediately pouncing on the moral issues (like some author’s would feel they are pretty much obliged to). And if I’m honest, although a very brave decision to make, I think this was exactly the right move. We all know how wrong and repulsive paedophilia is. It should never be seen as anything less than utterly and unquestionably abhorrent. But novels such as this one are not where we need to jump on to the moral high ground. That’s not the underlying ethos at play here. No – we need to keep things depraved and totally uncompromising throughout. Thankfully this is exactly what Hughes has done.

Of course, walking in on her father in such an uncompromising position is ultimately going to have a psychological effect on the young girl. But it’s the addiction (despite his constant promises that he’ll never do it again) that her father has with being sexually abused by young boys that really changes Charlotte. We start to see the young girl evolve. We start to see her stand firmly on her own two feet and take a surprisingly aggressive and dominating stance. Yes indeedy – Chaos is beginning to emerge.

The rest of the novella is along very much the same sort of lines. A fucked up coming-of-age story with Charlotte gradually, experience-by-experience, descending into the world of S&M. Along the way you’ve got some horrific scenes of violence – which further shapes the cold-hearted dominatrix that’s blossoming.

Of course, throughout all of this you’ve got that sexually charged underbelly which accompanies every twist and turn of the tale. Charlotte’s metamorphosis into a highly-sexed dominatrix brings about plenty of scenes of sordid debauchery. The experiences getting increasingly more hardcore – until we’re stood like voyeurs on the side-line, as Charlotte and her Aunt Sue put a father and son through what can only be described as barbaric torture.

As we near the end, the novella doesn’t really come to a proper conclusion, other than taking us all the way through Chaos’ backstory, until we’re up to that key moment where ‘Wind-Up Toy’ (2016) starts up. Nevertheless, as an addition to the ‘Wind-Up Toy’ world, ‘Chaos Rising’ really does slot in pretty much perfectly.

If you enjoyed ‘Wind-Up Toy’ (2016), then this really is a must read. It’s ramped up the depravity a good few notches, the nastiness has plummeted into gut-churning new lows, and the sheer entertainment factor of the story is equal to (if not more so) than the original.

For hard-hitting and outrageously despicable S&M that’s been shoved into the blood-drenched forecourt of extreme horror, you need look no further. In ‘Wind-Up Toy: Chaos Rising’ David Owain Hughes delivers the sordid depths of sexual depravity in absolute abundance.